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The aim of this study was to investigate the influences of sex and age on haematological values in the Posavje Horse breed. A total of 163 healthy Posavje horses (30 foals, 94 mares and 39 stallions) were used in this study; their complete blood counts and a leucogram were obtained with a haematological analyser. The horses were classified into five groups: foals (1 to 6 months, n = 30), 3 to 6 years (n = 8 stallions/21 mares), 7 to 9 years (n = 9 stallions/22 mares), 10 to 13 years (n = 8 stallions/20 mares), 14 to 15 years (n = 6 stallions/10 mares) and 16 and over (n = 8 stallions/21 mares). The results obtained show an influence of sex on haematological parameters, with red blood cell count (RBC), haematocrit (HCT) and haemoglobin concentration (HGB) being higher in stallions (P < 0.001) and white blood cell count (WBC) being higher in mares. Differences between the age groups of the Posavje horses examined indicate a decrease in RBC and HGB with a compensatory increase in mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin, a decrease in WBC and platelet counts (PLT) and proportion of lymphocytes, and an increase of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (N/L) with age (P < 0.001). Although the Posavje horse is classified as a draft horse breed, its haematological parameters show characteristics common to warm-blooded breeds, with the exception of the N/L ratio. One of the most important findings of this study is a higher neutrophil count in reproductively active breeding stallions. Higher levels of RBC, HGB, HCT and neutrophil count in the Posavje stallions suggest an effect of androgens (testosterone), which may be an effective mechanism to prevent infections, that can affect the survival of the stallions and thus the evolution of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different approaches and classification systems have been established to describe equine coat colour, which varies between breeds and countries. In the present study, we first characterised the coat colour variability in the Slovenian Posavje Horse applying colour spectrophotometry following the CIE L*a*b system. As derived from the classification system of Sponenberg (light bay, bay, mahogany bay, brown and seal brown), the phenotype categories could be confirmed by spectrophotometric data. Furthermore, L*a*b values revealed comparable high phenotypic variability of bay coat colour in the Posavje breed, and the darker shades of bay coat colour were associated with the ASIP and MC1R genotype combination A/a E/E. CIE L*a*b colour spectrophotometry represents an effective tool to characterise and quantify coat colour in horses, especially in chestnut horses, for which the underlying genetic background of coat colour variation remains unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate determination of coat colours in Bosnian Mountain Horse (BMH) can be challenging as there are variations in coat colour shades and several dun dilution variants occur. In other studies found single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within two colour loci T-box 3 (TBX3) and 11-bp indel polymorphism within Agouti Signalling Protein gene (ASIP), were genotyped in 313 BMH individuals. The obtained genotypes were then compared to the identified phenotypes by using the observed coat colour types from the International Association of Bosnian Mountain Horse Breeders (IABMHB) database. It was found that the dark bay and black were the most representative coat colours in BMH. The frequency of the dominant Dun (D) dilution allele in the study is higher (0.09) than the previously predicted frequency recorded in the available BMH register. Among the identified alleles, there was a discrepancy or inconsistency between the predicted coat colour based on genotypes and the observed coat colour in 73 horses (23%). The most frequent error concerned the misclassification of horses with genotypes aa and Aa at the ASIP gene, non-dun1/non-dun1 (nd1/nd1) and non-dun2/non-dun1 (nd1/nd2) at the TBX3 gene, which can be associated with the occurrence of slight dilution phenotypes in these individuals. In contrast to the Konik and Hucul breeds, no homozygosity of the D allele was found in the BMH. The D allele can be easily overlooked or not recognised in different phenotypic groups, such as dark bay and black horses. Therefore, the hypothesis that Dun dilution effects itself is not as strongly epistatic in the BMH as described in other horse breeds. The results of the study confirm the importance of molecular testing in accurately determining the coat colour of horses. This would help to avoid errors in coat colour descriptions in official breeding records and provide valuable information for selective breeding programmes aimed at producing specific and desired coat colours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posavje horse is an autochthonous horse breed in Slovenia as well as in Croatia. Slovenian population of Posavje horse is traditionally reared in the lower flow of the river Sava, in the surroundings of KrŠko and Brežice. Breeding program for the Posavje horse was accepted in the year 2005 when the Slovenian Association of Posavje Horse Breeders was established, too. The aim of the study was to analyse the conformation and gait traits of the Slovenian population of Posavje horse. Likewise, we tried to evaluate the most known fixed effects, affecting the included traits. Data were collected during the classifications of Posavje horse, performed in the years 2000 to 2011 and evaluated by only one expert. In this study 557 horses were included, among them 44 stallions and 513 mares, born during the years 1999 to 2007. The scoring system included 9 measured and 11 scored traits. Data were analysed by GLM procedure of statistical package SAS/STAT considering sex, age at scoring and birth year as fixed effects. Posavje horses had in average 141.9 ± 3.48 cm height at withers (stick) and 144.5 ± 3.76 cm croup height. Body length (152.8 ± 5.28 cm) was in average larger than the height at wither, thus indicating the rectangular body frame. The analysed Posavje horse population in Slovenia included horses with bay (79%), dark bay (5%), chestnut (11%), grey (3%) and black (2%) coat colour. According to the literature Croatian population had very similar measured traits to the Slovenian population of Posavje horse. Considering LSM values of all included conformation traits, stallions had larger measurements and higher scores than mares what could be explained with sexual dimorphism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]